Legit crock pot butter chicken.

The other day I decided to conquer my fear of cooking Indian food.  You see, I love Indian food.  A lot.  I could eat it twice a week for the rest of my life (or every day for several months until I moved on to a new obsession).  There is something about the spices and yummy flavors that just makes me feel good.

My husband served a mission for our church in India several years ago and therefore has a fairly good sense of what makes good Indian food.  He likes "Americanized" Indian better, and he said that the curry I made definitely tasted legit (as in, it tasted like it could come from an Indian restaurant).

Don't let the spices intimidate you.   I felt very fancy walking around the Indian grocery store here in San Francisco and didn't spend too much on the supplies I needed.  They also came in big enough bags that I'm pretty sure I'm set on garam masala forever.  Here's what you need:

4-6 boneless chicken thighs cut into bite-size pieces (or get it on the bone, clean it, and use the bones to make chicken stock later.  Homemade is so much more yummy and also has waaaaaay less sodium).
1 diced yellow onion
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbs butter
2 tbs oil

Sautee the garlic, onions, and chicken in oil and butter until the onions are translucent and the chicken is cooked all the way through.  Meanwhile, set up your crock pot with...

15 green cardamom pods  (you can string them together with a needle and thread or put them in cheese cloth--you want their flavor in the finished product, but not the actual pods)
2 tsp curry powder
1 tbsp mild or medium curry paste
1 tsp or less of cayenne pepper (it makes the dish fairly spicy with the whole tsp)
2 tsp tandoori masala
1 tsp garam masala
1 can coconut milk
1 cup plain yogurt
1 5.5 oz can tomato paste
Salt to taste

Mix the crock pot ingredients together.  After your chicken and onions are ready, stir them into the mixture and cook on high for 4-6 hours or low for 6-8 hours.

The salt is essential in this recipe.  It helps enhance all the flavors and helps them meld together.  Time is also very important--even though my curry cooked for 5 or so hours, I found I liked it better the next day when all the flavors had more time to blend.

Serve over Basamati rice.  We only eat brown rice in our house, but I buy Basamati special to eat with Indian leftovers or dishes that I make because it really makes it taste better.

*Make sure your ingredients are all gluten-free!  (Especially the chicken!  No fillers!)
*I stole this recipe from Meal Planning 101.